Back to School Bash -Coco Key

Back to School Bash

August 30th 2013

 

Last Day to be eight!

 

K had a blast at Coco Key!  Proud moment - K who is scared of most things until he rides something a few times marched up the stairs and rode lots of tube rides by himself and with friends.  He's matured so much in the last year.  So proud of his growth this last year and cant wait to see what the 3rd grade brings.

                                  Hope everyone is off to a great start of the year

Field Trip: Chocolate Kingdom 8/22/2013

Chocolate Kingdom

Orlando, Florida

 

How the Cacao bean turns into the chocolate that we have grown to LOVE

 

Join us with our photos

 

Here we are learning about the cacao bean and how it grows near the equator.  The Pod takes years to be ripe and its heavy when its ready to be picked off the tree.  

 

We got to sample the Cacao bean at its dry stage with a sugar coating.  Didn't get K's face when trying it out but he ended up liking it more than I did.  I have to admit I did spit mine out!  Bitter!

Here we are talking about the process of drying the beans and how they use to make the cacao powder.

Here we are learning about the history behind the Cacao. Cacao used to be used as money.  Umm, that was some yummy money.

Sampling an ancient recipe of hot Chocolate and learning how they use to make the Hot Chocolate to make it all frothy.  Glad we have gadgets that make the job so much easier today!

Chocolate river and a Marshmallow game.  K Love this!

This was my favorite area.  We got to see how the Cacao bean went through a machine to get the Nibs which is what you make the Chocolate with.

Here we are given samples of each type of Chocolate where we get to savor all the different flavors.

K ordered a Milk Chocolate bar with Marshmallows and M&M's, I got Milk Chocolate with Marshmallows and Carmel.  YUM!  Their Chocolate was GOOD!  I am a Chocolate snob liking European Chocolate so much that I am known to Order a good batch once a year for Christmas.  Just saying it's pretty darn good

The Cacao trees growing at Chocolate Kingdom

 

Great Info on Cacao

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Field Trip: Gatorland 8/20/13

Gatorland

8/20/2013

 

Started the day off with a drive to Orlando to enjoy Alligators in a safe place.  A great place to learn about the creatures that live in our back yard (in lakes/canals)

 

Welcome to GATORLAND!

 

When you first walk in you get to enjoy all the young in's sun bathing.  This was by far my favorite pond to watch.  Just watching the cute little guys

                                                                  Gator wrestling!
Not as fun as I thought this was going to be.  However, we learned about how they protect their eye's in the wild from being injured.  Learned that an Gator can stay under water for 2 hours before coming up for air.  Gators top jaw is where they have strength where crocodiles its the bottom jaw.  Glad we started the day with this while the kids were excited to learn about gators.

                                                              An albino Gator!

Albino gators don't live long in the wild because they don't blend in with their surroundings and tend to fall pray to other gators.  When an Albino gator is found places like gatorland take them in so that we can protect them and learn more about them.

The feeding station.  Turkey dogs were on the menu for today! 
Looking at this Picture I have no idea why I wasn't thinking that these guys can propel themselves out of the water.  Guess they had enough hot dogs that they didn't feel like a hand and a camera ;o).  As you can see in the first picture there is a net

These two are the sweetest friends ever.  Just love their friendship! 

A hot day of 97 degrees but a great time with friends made the temperatures bearable.  Already, looking forward to another trip to ride the zipline.

Field Trip: Publix 8/13/13

Publix Field Trip

8/13/13

 

Yeah we all had to wear hair nets!  I was blessed with having to wear 2!  Homeschool moms rock as they not once thought twice about helping me get my hair all covered!

 

 We started the tour in the bakery where we watched a decorator decorate a mini cake.  The kids where in aww watching how fast the cake went from plain to cute.  All the kids got to taste some frosting which they enjoyed at 10 AM ;o)

                                                                   Next off to the Deli

 Asking questions about their favorite sandwiches!  Every one sampling a slice of white American cheese.

                                                                      Produce

 The kids walked through the produce isles learning about how cold they keep the cold things like OJ (37 degrees)  These FL kids all thought that was cold!  They learned a little bit about apples and how many different types that the store has in stock.  They all listed their favorite potatoes, I heard French fries from one of the kids. K also learned that they get enough boxes every week to touch the ceiling of the store.  That's like 4 Pallets!
 We headed into the back where they kids got to see how they cut the pineapples for the cut fruit. Everyone got to sample some Pineapple.  YUMMY!  We also got to see how they store the produce in the back.  Not sure how they find anything it looked a little cramped but they just got a truck in.

                                                              In the Back

 Look at this Panty!  So much stuff.  The kids got to go into the fridge to feel how cold it was in there.  K came out laughing it was cold he said.  We than went into the freezer and burr that was cold.  I could feel it when they opened the door and I was a good 15 ft away from the freezer.  K walked into the middle and came right out.  He said it's too cold for him.  He thought it was awesome!  The kids got to see how they load the back shelf's when a truck comes in.  They also got to watch the cardboard compactor work.  Of course all children where kept a safe distance from all the working machines.

                                                                          Meat Dept.

This was K's favorite area.  He just really enjoyed watching how everything worked.  The kids where showed the machine that turns the meat into ground beef.  Next, they were showed a machine where they make the preformed hamburger patties.  Now comes the saw that slices the beef into steaks.  The kids also got to see how the meat was packaged down to wt. and wrapping.  I of course didn't get a photo of that.  Opps! 

One thing that was awesome to see is how each dept. showed all steps from washing hands to protecting their hands for safety.

Awesome job Publix!  My kid learned a lot